Madcap Manor

Just came back yesterday from a trip to Shrewsbury to see Son and Daughter-in-law, and I'm off tomorrow to Derby to see my Dad! I seem to have been either travelling or washing and ironing this week! Hopefully I'll be able to pay more visits to Blogland next week! Take care! luv, Mags x

Warning: this is a picture-heavy post, so get yourself a cuppa and a biccie! I'm entering this week's Less is More challenge, which is to use a ribbon or button. That's better! I had withdrawal symptoms because I haven't made a card in about 10 days! I also haven't played along with Jules's Snippets challenge for far too long, when she challenges us to use up those snippets of leftover paper in our stashes! Three of these cards qualify, but for the last one I cut into a pristine sheet of paper. Okiedokie, I'll keep this short'n'sweet! The patchwork squares were punched using scraps of Pink Petticoat papers, and the pink flowers are Papermania Honey and Hugs, I think. There are purple gems in the middles of the flowers. Sentiment is Penny Black, on a die-cut Nestie, and the gorgeous ribbon is recycled from a cardigan! I used a smaller punch on this one, and doodled lines around them to look like patchwork. There are 4 small butterflies, though they ...

Once again it's Dream Valley Challenges time and this fortnight's theme is "SURPRISE!" You can make a pop-up card, or include a hidden tag, or have a lift-the-flap element - there are links on the Dream Valley blog to sites with examples and tutorials to whet the appetite! The sponsor is They're offering a $10 Canadian dollars voucher to spend in their shop so do stroll across and have a dekko at what's there! I've been away in North Wales this last week, so didn't have time to use one of the digis, unfortunately. Instead I used a Lili of the Valley image called Sprinkled With Sugar isn't it adorable? The tag and sentiment are also LotV. The papers are Basic Grey 'Nook and Pantry' (I think - they were in my snippets box!) I used foam pads to stick the image onto the front, leaving the side open to insert the tag. I die-cut the scrolled base of the tag using a Nestie in the same card that I used for matting, so it would look like part of...

I'm away to North Wales for a week tomorrow, with no Internet (Praise the Lord! My hubby won't be able to 'just check my e-mails at work, dear' which happens too often at the weekend!) So I'll see you all on the 24th, when the next Dream Valley Challenge is due. There's still time to enter the current challenge, which is a Summer Theme. /shameless plug ;) Have a great week! luv, Mags x

Summer time, and the livin' is easy... I'm sorry I'm a bit late with my Dream Valley Challenges DT card. I was whisked away to the North Norfolk coast for a birdwatching weekend my my old man. It was wonderful!!! Back to business: we had loads of fabulous entries for our 'ribbon' challenge last time! You are all very imaginative and talented!! Now we have a Summer theme for the next fortnight, so we want to see bright colours, summer or holiday images, fun on the beach, swimsuits and flip-flops, or even all of the above - whatever 'summer' is for you. For me it's ICE CREAM - somehow, ice cream is never as good as when it's eaten on a beach on a hot, sunny day! Our lovely sponsors are One Stop Card Crafts - they are also on Facebook under that name. My ice cream card started with the Penny Black image - this was one of the first stamps I bought, and I love her, isn't she cool? Love that smiley face - and the ice cream cone!! Papers are Funky Ha...

Hi, guys! Isn't this little alien cute? He's from the Pollycraft Critters and Cogs set. The current Pollycraft Monday Challenge theme is 'Celebrations,' with the optional extra of 'Stars and Stripes.' It's their 100th challenge and there's a fantastic prize, including a cd of 100 digis!! Actually, I'd already decided to use this cutie, which is for a young man who is about to turn 13. He's a keen 'Dr Who' fan so the choice was pretty easy! The sketch is based on the Sketch Saturday one this week, but I adapted it to suit the proportions of the image. Papers are Nitwits 'Spaced Out' digipapers. I used a Martha Stewart stars punch for the border, and a Woodware punch for the stars, which are glitter card. The sentiment is Lili of the Valley - so useful! You can get various words to fit into the basic ticket shapes. I also put green liquid pearls on the stars on the banner, which has given a crunchy-looking texture that I rather li...

It's my birthday next Friday and I want to offer some blog candy, but I can't for the life of me work out how to make a 'sticky post.' Blogger help doesn't seem to recognise the phrase! Can any of you lovely people tell me how to do it? With lots of gratitude - Mags x

Happy Saturday, all! I hope you're having a good weekend. I had a wonderful time on Thursday watching cricket at The Oval! Unfortunately, thanks to having 2 pints of beer in the warm sunshine that evening, on Friday morning I felt a wee bit delicate!!! Here's a card I did for the current Whiff of Joy Challenge which is a really interesting sketch. Inspired by some of the WoJ DT cards, I used a tag for one of the elements. The papers are by Pink Petticoat, a pack called 'Wild Blossoms' that is free with 'Quick Cards Made Easy.' The gorgeous ribbon is recycled from a Christmas present! Honestly, I've become such a magpie since starting this cardage lark, I save everything!! Here's a pic of the tag, which is from a WoJ die. I distressed the edges with Spun Sugar and then went round with stickles. The oval round the image is also distressed with Spun Sugar. Flowers arw Wild Orchid, the pink ones stickled, and the gold ornament is from stash. While I was mak...